Full account of Tony Blairs exchanges with George Bush on Iraq war to be kept secret Gists of Tony Blairs conversations with George Bush to be published while former US Presidents views will remain secret, Chilcot Inquiry told The full account of Tony Blair’s exchanges with US President George Bush in the run up to the Iraq war will remain secret after a deal was struck to only release extracts. Only gists of the crucial conversations and a selection of quotes from Mr Blair will be published in the long-overdue report from the Chilcot Inquiry, it has been announced. The deal also means no detail of Mr Bush’s comments or views made during the exchanges will be made public. The agreement ends years of delays in the high-profile inquiry, which has examined Britain’s handling of the 2003 conflict, caused by sensitive negotiations over the release of the Blair and Bush communications. The material will come from 25 notes from Mr Blair to Mr Bush and more than 130 records of conversations between the former Prime Minister and then US president. The deal was struck by the Governments top civil servant Sir Jeremy Heywood, who was principal private secretary to Mr Blair in 10 Downing Street in the run-up to the war, and inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot. Mr Blair insisted earlier this week that he was not behind the delays. The fact that Mr Bush’s comments and views will now remain secret will fuel suggestions that the obstacles were from the US. Although the breakthrough means the inquiry can finally progress, some three years after the public hearings ended, it could still be many months before a report is published, and possibly not until after the 2015 general election. In a letter, Sir John told the Cabinet Secretary: I appreciate that the inquirys requests for disclosure raised difficult issues of long-standing principle, which have taken some months to resolve: recognition of the wholly exceptional nature of this Inquiry has allowed that to happen. My colleagues and I judge that this material is vital to the public understanding of the inquirys conclusions. He added: Following our recent agreement on the principles for disclosure of material describing communication between the prime minister and the president of the United States, detailed consideration of the gists and quotes requested by the inquiry has now begun. Consideration will be based on the principle that our use of this material should not reflect president Bushs views. We have also agreed that the use of direct quotation from the documents should be the minimum necessary to enable the inquiry to articulate its conclusions. The Chilcot Inquiry was established in 2009 by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to address Britains handling of the war and public hearings finished in 2011. Neither the Government nor the inquiry team would be drawn on when the report may now be published but it is likely to be many months, if not next year. Exactly what material from Mr Blair is published has to be agreed and then letters must be sent out to any individuals facing criticism in the final report before it is published under the Maxwellisation process which gives them an opportunity to respond. Once that is complete, the report can be finalised and sent to Prime Minister David Cameron, who has previously said he hopes it will be published by the end of the year. However, any further slips in timings could push the process very close to the next year’s general election. Earlier this week, Mr Blair insisted he was not the reason for the delay. It certainly isnt me who is holding it up, he said. The sooner it is published the better from my perspective as it allows me to go and make the arguments. A Cabinet Office spokesman said: The Government is pleased that agreement on a way forward on both Cabinet papers and UK/US exchanges has now been reached with the inquiry. This allows for the declassification and publication of the material the inquiry believes it needs to explain its conclusions. Resolving this issue has taken longer than originally hoped but these are sensitive issues. The UK/US Head of Government channel is very important and must be handled sensitively. The Government and the inquiry are working to ensure the inquirys report is published as soon as possible and the Government is doing everything it can to facilitate that.
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 12:00:21 +0000
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